


Between Vines and Ink

by LostCryptid



Series: Between Vines and Ink [2]
Category: The Magnus Archives (Podcast)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Fantasy, Beast!Gerry, First Meetings, Hurt/Comfort, Kisses, M/M, Magic, Martin Blackwood's Mother's A+ Parenting, Mary Keay's A+ Parenting, Meet-Cute, Trans Martin Blackwood, Witches, slight body horror
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-13
Updated: 2020-10-15
Packaged: 2021-03-07 23:07:35
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 8
Words: 6,131
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26985658
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/LostCryptid/pseuds/LostCryptid
Summary: Martin can't remember how he got hereHe's pretty sure there shouldn't be a library in the middle of the forest but he's currently standing in one anyway
Relationships: Gerard Keay/Jonathan "Jon" Sims | The Archivist, Martin Blackwood/Gerard Keay, Martin Blackwood/Gerard Keay/Jonathan "Jon" Sims | The Archivist, Martin Blackwood/Jonathan "Jon" Sims | The Archivist
Series: Between Vines and Ink [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1969471
Comments: 17
Kudos: 98





	1. The Archivist

**Author's Note:**

> Decided to post these snippets on here now 
> 
> The parts are loosely connected with usually a few days to a few weeks in between them

Martin couldn’t remember how he got here. He had been in the woods and then….. nothing. 

To be fair. 

He still was in the woods. Sort of. 

But he didn't think that there was a library in the woods. 

Libraries didn't belong in the woods, did they? 

But there clearly were bookshelves right in front of him. 

Tall bookshelves that reached high towards the sky that was barely visible between thick branches. 

There weren't any actual walls or a ceiling. No, that was wrong. There used to be walls and a ceiling, at least Martin thought so. There were still some ruins indicating that it was a building once. Half crumbled walls with broken windows and wooden beams that might have supported an actual roof once. But all of it had clearly crumbled long ago leaving only bookshelves that had been overgrown by vines.

Dry leaves crunched under Martin’s feet as he walked through the row of shelves. Most of them were still whole and in surprisingly good condition, just like the books that filled them. 

Some seemed like they had been victims of smaller rodents or rain with gnawed on corners and stains on them and there even was a bird's nest in one of the higher shelves but most seemed like your typical well kept books, that one could find a regular library. A library that wasn’t in the middle of the woods. 

Martin traced his fingers along a few of them before he grabbed one and pulled it out. He still somehow expected it, to simply crumble into dust between his fingers, but it didn’t so he carefully opened it. 

The paper felt dry and brittle between his fingers, but it didn’t break. It felt  _ old. _ Not a normal old, not a -you could find this in an antique store- old, but an old that had a tangible weight behind it. The words that filled the pages inside of it seemed handwritten and were in a language that Martin didn’t know or recognise.

It made him question even more how he ended up here, but he just couldn’t remember.

He sighed and closed the book, gingerly putting back into the empty space where he had taken it from. 

Staying here and staring at books certainly wouldn’t help him get home, so he started walking again. Brushing his fingertips along shelf boards as he made his way deeper into the strange forest library. He came by a few seating arrangements consisting of moth-eaten seats and slightly rotten tables. One even had a cup standing on it, filled with what Martin assumed was rainwater and a small frog that seemed very content with his little pool.

“Don’t think you can tell me how I got here, huh?” Martin wondered out loud.    
The frog didn’t reply. Martin wasn’t even sure if it was aware of his presence, but that also wouldn’t be anything new.

“Thought so.” he said with a sigh. “Would’ve been too easy, right?”

For a moment he thought about taking both, cup and frog, with him, but he decided against it. He didn’t want to startle the animal even if it didn’t seem to care about him so far. In general, it felt wrong to change anything about this place as if it would interrupt something bigger if he did so.

So he kept on going, following the paths between the shelves. In the beginning, he tried to keep in mind the course he was taking but with more and more crossings to add to the mix and soon gave up.

If he was lost, then he was lost. It wasn’t like he hadn’t been lost from the beginning. 

The deeper he walked into the labyrinth of shelves, the more he could see of the stone floor as the leaves under his feet grew less and less. The branches and leftover beams above him slowly got replaced by a wooden roof. It was still patchy and had holes in it. Some bigger some smaller but it was an actual roof instead of a forest canopy. Maybe he was getting closer to the centre or something similar. Or just a part of the building that was less of a ruin.

Just as he had finished that thought, he stepped out of the path between the shelves into an opening. It was circular with various passages between more shelves leading to and from it and filled with long tables with chairs around them. It looked a bit like a study hall or something similar. At the opposite end of it was a stone wall—a stone wall with a door in it.

Martin didn’t know where the door led, but it certainly was a change scenery. He hesitated a bit before he stepped further into the area and made his way through the tables. He stopped in front of the door. It was wooden and seemed old, just like the rest of the library. It even had some mushrooms growing out of it. Spindly little things with white stems and purple hats. They didn’t look like any mushrooms Martin had seen before, and he had to resist the irrational urge to touch them just to see if something interesting would happen.

Maybe all of this was a dream? It certainly seemed strange enough to be one, but at the same time, it lacked the dream-like quality. 

Martin pinched himself just to be sure, but he didn’t wake up, so it seemed real enough. Probably. With a sigh, he pushed against the door. 

It opened without any resistance. There wasn’t even so much as a creak of unoiled hinges like one would assume from such an old door. Martin stood in the doorway starring into the dimly lit interior until his eyes got at least slightly used to it. 

It was an office...used to be an office? The room behind the door held a big desk filled with stacks of more or less ordered papers mixed with dried leaves and other plant matter. Martin stepped closer, looking around as the door fell shut behind him without a sound. 

Besides the desk, there were also more shelves filled with books and scrolls and loose papers. A crash from Martin’s right startled him and made him whirl around.

There was another doorway leading to another room. A doorway which was currently occupied by another man who looked at him just as shocked as Martin himself felt. He was small, at least smaller than Martin with dark hair that was lined with grey streaks. And the crash seemed to have come from the books that now laid at his feet.

“Who are you?” the man asked. He sounded gruff, but not necessarily unfriendly. He mostly seemed surprised and unsure.

“Oh..uh... I’m Martin. Martin Blackwood.”, Martin introduced himself. “And I think I might be lost?”

“Lost? Well, that might explain some things.” the man muttered, more to himself than to Martin and moved to pick up the books he had dropped earlier.

“Does it?” Martin asked, watching as the man placed the books on another book stack that was already on the large desk. The man only hummed in response.

“Maybe.”, he said then, which did nothing to clear up Martin’s general confusion.

“And you are…?” he asked then hesitatingly. Unsure what to make of the man that seemed just as strange as the library.

The man looked up from the desk, fixating Martin with dark eyes.

“Me? Oh, yes, sorry, I forgot. I am the Archivist. You can call me Jon, I suppose.” the Archivist, no Jon offered with a crooked smile.

“Archivist? So this is your library?” Martin asked, pushing further. Jon shrugged.

“No. Well, yes. Maybe. Might as well be. I’m the only one here most of the time.”

“Most of the time?” 

“I mean there’s the beast.”

Slowly Martin started to think that he had ended up in a fairytale. A library in the woods, a strange Archivist and now a beast. He wondered what that would make him.

“A beast?” he pushed on.

“You didn’t meet him?”

Martin shook his head. He was pretty sure that he would remember a beast if he had met one.

“Huh. That’s weird. Well, I mean he’s not really a beast. I mean he is, sort of, sometimes, but he’s not a monster or anything. He guards the archive. How did you say you get here again?” Something seemed to have picked Jon’s interest because the look in his eyes had changed.

Now it was Martin’s turn to shrug.

“I was in the woods, I think? And then I got lost? I mean I think I got lost I can’t remember, but next thing I remember is standing between bookshelves.” Martin shrugged again. “I had hoped you could help me find a way back, maybe.” he added then.

Jon tilted his head slightly. 

“Maybe.” he agreed then. “I’m not sure myself, but I can try. I might have to check a few things though and read some things up. That might take a while.” He looked at Martin as if trying to read him for a second. “You’re welcome to stay here during that time, wouldn’t want to get you any more lost, right?”

“I, uh...thank you?” 

Martin wondered what Jon had to look up and why he couldn’t just point him back in the right direction. Still, something told him that this probably wasn’t all that easy and that ending up in libraries that shouldn’t exist in the first place took a slightly more creative solution than a few vague directions and a pat on the shoulder.

“No problem. Shouldn’t take more than a few days hopefully. I can show you your rooms? If you want?” Jon looked at Martin questioningly.

“That would be nice.” 

“Well, then. Follow me.” Jon waved him along and vanished back through the doorway in which Martin had seen him the first time.

After wavering for a second Martin followed. If Jon wanted to harm him in any way, there was nothing much that would stop him no matter where Martin stayed. And there was still a beast that apparently lurked outside of the ruins of this very strange archive. He would take his chances and simply hope that this wasn’t a fairytale where Jon turned out to be the witch that was planning to eat him.

  
  



	2. The Beast

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> There's a beast in the Library kitchen  
> Jon is completely unfazed  
> And Martin wonders if he should panic more or not

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sets about a day or two after Martin met Jon

Martin was in the libraries kitchen when he met the beast for the first time. He was sitting at the table a steaming mug in front of him and Jon sitting across from him nose already buried in another book when the door leading into the forest opened, and a hulking form pushed himself through the opening. It shouldn’t have been able to fit, but somehow it did, and the mass of muscle and fur sluggishly pulled himself through.

“Oh, geez.”

The words had escaped before Martin could bite himself on the tongue. The beasts head whipped to him, and they locked eyes. The beast’s eyes looked strangely human, and for a moment, Martin and the beast simply stared at each other.

“Oh, you’re back.”

Jon’s voice brought them back into the here and now and the eye contact broke. The beast turned his head to Jon instead, huffing softly.

“That’s Martin. No worries he’s okay.” Jon said and put the book aside, getting up from his seat.

Martin wasn’t sure if he should be offended or not about being called _ okay.  _ What was that supposed to mean anyway? That he was an acceptable company? That he was no threat? In that case, he was pretty sure that that wasn’t something that had to be told to a literal beast.

“You’re hurt.”, Jon murmured. He had walked over and was currently pressing his hand against one side of the beast face. Very close to some very sharp looking teeth. The beast only responded with a low growl, leaning his face against Jon’s fingers.

“Martin? Could you bring me the box with the bandages?” Jon had turned his head to him. “It’s in the cupboard in the hallway.”

“I...yeah sure, be right back.”, Martin said and hurried to get up and make himself useful. Behind him, he could hear Jon mutter to the beast.

“And let’s work on making you a bit more presentable.”

Whatever that was supposed to mean. But he probably would learn it sooner or later.

The bandages were easy enough to find. They were in a box that was also filled with various jars and pots full of herbs and salves. They seemed like they were also meant for wounds, so Martin simply took the entire box carrying back to the kitchen.

The kitchen that wasn’t occupied by a monster. Instead, Jon was kneeling in front of a man in dark clothes with long black hair. Fingers dancing over the other’s right arm where the sleeve was ripped, and fabric and skin were smeared with blood.

They both looked up when Martin entered and froze in the door. 

“Great. Would you please bring them over?”

Martin shook himself out of his own stupor and made himself walk over, placing the box next to Jon while his brain tried to comprehend what was happening. Abandoned libraries in the woods were already weird enough. Now beasts that turned into men? Maybe? If that was what had happened. He certainly was out of his depth here.

Jon took one of the bandages, looking at it with a sigh.

“I’m still awful at this.” he muttered to himself before he turned back to the man.

“I can just do it myself.”

“I could help?”

Both the man and Martin spoke at the same time, before staring at each other. The man’s lips pulled into an amused smirk, and he snorted.

“I mean if you want me to of course.” Martin backpedalled.

The man shrugged.

“Sure. Can’t be worse than what Jon would end up doing.”

“-hey!” 

The man only looked at Jon with a raised eyebrow which resulted in a huff, but the bandage got handed over to Martin without any complaints.

“I’ll just go back to….” he pushed himself up, making space for Martin before he retreated back to his book. But Martin could still feel his gaze on himself. 

He kneeled down in the space that Jon had freed after grabbing a clean rag and wetting it a bit. He carefully washed away the caked blood so he could actually see the extent of the wound. 

He wasn’t an expert, but it didn’t seem to bad. The cuts were long but not too deep so they wouldn’t need to get sewn. Probably. Martin looked a bit lost at the collection of salves.

“Is there anything to prevent infection?” he asked, picking one up at random, but the label didn’t help him at all since he couldn’t read what was written on it.

“That one will do just fine.” the man hummed. He hadn’t flinched once when Martin had cleaned the wound and in general, seemed pretty unbothered by it. 

Martin sighed softly and opened the jar. He had no choice but to believe the man, but since it was his arm, Martin doubted that he would encourage the appliance of anything that wasn’t supposed to go near open wounds. 

He carefully applied the salves to the edges of the gashes before tightly wrapping the bandage around the arm, fixating it with a small knot. 

“Done.” he said, leaning back to look at his work. 

The man looked at it before moving his arm around a bit, presumably to test its hold.

“Nice. Thanks.” 

He pushed himself up to his full height, and Martin followed suit. The man was tall and muscular but still a few inches shorter than Martin himself. 

“Uhm.” Martin made, which resulted in grey eyes looking at him questioningly. “Are you the beast?” Martin questioned because it didn’t seem like any of his questions would get answered if he didn’t explicitly ask for it.

“I mean, yes.”, the man answered a grin tugging at his lips. “But my friends usually call me Gerry, and after you patched me up I think we’re friendly enough for that.”, he added with a wink.


	3. Eyes

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Set not to long after Martin patched up Gerry

Martin’s fingers hovered over the thick, dark fur.

“You can touch, you know. He won’t bite”, Jon said amused, and Martin looked over to him, scrunching up his nose, while Gerry made a huffing noise which Martin also interpreted as amusement.

“I know that,” Martin muttered. “I’m just not used to people turning into beasts I suppose…” he added but buried his fingers in the dark strands. They were surprisingly soft, definitely softer than they looked at least.

He stroked along Gerry’s flank, scratching softly over his sides and got rewarded with a content growl that reverberated through Gerry’s chest.

“Why so many eyes?” he wondered after a while, tracing along Gerry’s muzzle, his eight eyes fixated on Martin. Jon shrugged.

“Many things around here tend to have many eyes.”

“You don’t.” Martin pointed out. Jon looked at him, raising an eyebrow before making a sound that was neither here not there. Gerry huffed again, nudging Martin slightly when his hand stopped.

“What does that mean? Do you also have more than two eyes?” Martin asked sceptically.

“Sometimes.”

“Sometimes? Wait, will I also get more eyes? Is that a thing that can happen?” 

He wasn’t sure if he wanted more eyes. Gerry and Jon didn’t seem bothered by it, and technically more eyes didn’t sound too horrible, but he really hoped that they would come with perfect vision then. He doubted that there were any optometrists around and he didn’t want to figure out how it was to be blind on half of his eyes.

“I don’t know,” Jon answered, shrugging apologetically. “doesn’t have to be the case, but if you change then more eyes might be the least of your problems.”

Martin opened his mouth and closed it again before furrowing his brows.

“I think you have to tell me a bit more about that.” he said then and Jon nodded.

“Might be for the best.”


	4. Isn't it Lovely

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Set about a week and a half after Martin first arrived

Martin sat down on the ledge of the tower and Gerry followed suit just a moment later.

Gerry had asked him earlier if he wanted to see something different then row after row of bookshelves and Martin had agreed. 

It was the first time he left the archives since he had arrived, Jon seemed very unwilling to leave them and Martin hadn't wanted to explorer alone. 

Gerry had led them to a tower deeper in the woods, with a small and narrow staircase that led to the top, now they sat there looking out over the woods. 

"You love him don't you?", Martin asked after a while, looking over to Gerry. 

Gerry turned to him, grey eyes wide with shock before his lips formed into a wry smile. 

"Yes." 

"Have you told him?" 

"No." 

Gerry looked away again. 

"Maybe you should." Martin said. 

Gerry hummed in response. 

"I don't think he knows how lovely he is.", Martin added. 

"You love him too." 

It wasn't a question. Martin chuckled. 

"I wouldn't call it love,” Martin said. “I barely know him." 

Gerry shrugged. 

"But you like him." 

This also wasn't a question. 

"Yeah." Martin agreed.

"Maybe you should tell him that." 

"That wouldn't be fair."

"Fair?", Gerry asked, raising an eyebrow "Fair to who?"

"To You? To Jon? To Myself? I don't know. I don't even know how long I'll be here." 

Gerry's eyes were boring into him and Martin fidgeted slightly under the intense look. 

"The future is no reason to deny yourself things in the here and now."

Martin snorted. 

"What's that supposed to mean?", he asked. 

"It means that maybe you're not aware of how lovely you're as well." Gerry answered and fingers laid themselves across Martin's own. 

"It means that fair is relative." 

Lips brushed over his cheek and Martin was too surprised to respond. 

"Oh." 


	5. Every second Heartbeat

“Oh, my apologies. I should have knocked.”

Martin had frozen in the start but relaxed when he realized that it was only Jon. 

“It’s fine, don’t worry.” he said, pulling his shirt off the rest of the way.

“Still...oh.” Jon stepped closer a curious look on his face.

“What?”

“What are those? Where did you get them?” 

Martin looked down at the twin scars on his chest.

“Uh...uhm I’m trans? Don’t you have that here too?”

“Trans?” Jon asked, curious but questioning.

“Uhm. Like being born in the wrong body?”

“Oh. Yes, we have that too.” Jon said, by now standing in front of Martin. “But I’ve never seen scars like that before… Can I touch them?”

Martin shrugged slightly, his heart speeding up in his chest.

“Sure.” 

Jon’s fingers were cool when they touched the skin around his scars. Martin barely had any feeling in the actual scars but he could feel Jon’s fingers ghost around the edges and Martin hoped that he couldn’t feel his heart race underneath.

“If it doesn’t leave scars what do you do around here?”, he asked then. Jon looked up from Martin’s scars and shrugged.

“You make a deal with a witch.”

“A deal with a witch….and sell your soul?”, Martin asked raising an eyebrow.

“No, a soul is a bit much for adjusting your body.”

“Okaaay. So what does it cost instead?”

“The colour of your hair? Or maybe every second heartbeat?” 

Martin could only stare at Jon until he saw the amused twinkling in his eyes.

“You’re shitting me, aren’t you?”

Jon chuckled.

“Yes. You can’t sell every second heartbeat.”

“But I could still sell the colour of my hair to adjust my body?” Martin questioned.

Jon shrugged again.

“Sure, but it’s not usual.”

Martin was a bit scared to ask what exactly was a usual thing to sell to a witch, but he was also too curious not to ask.

“And the usual thing is?”

“Oh, usually you just exchange it for the parts you don’t want to have anyway.” Jon answered as if it was the most logical explanation. And maybe it was.

“Oh,” Martin said. “that’s...practical.”

“What do you do that it leaves those scars?” Jon asked, tapping against the crescent scars. “Looks like knife wounds.”

Martin snorted.

“I mean, yes? Sort of, I guess. In that case, it basically gets cut away.”

“Cut away? Doesn’t that hurt?”

Now it was Martin’s turn to shrug.

“Not during the procedure and afterwards you have painkillers. It’s not that bad.”

Not that it was a piece of cake either, but it was worth it.

Jon raised an eyebrow and pulled his fingers back.

“That’s...strange.”

“Well, I think it’s strange to make a deal with a witch so there’s that.” Martin said amused.


	6. Heart of the Library

“What’s in there?” Martin asked nodding to a door as he and Gerry walked past it. It had been locked the first time he had tried to open it, but then there had been more pressing matters, so he hadn’t gotten around to asking until now.

Gerry looked at the door before he gave Martin an assessing look. Then he shrugged.

“I can show you if you want too.”

Martin nodded. He was curious. No other door in the library was locked, so he wondered what was behind this one that warranted it. Martin could have picked the lock probably if he had wanted too, but he didn’t want to betray the trust that Jon and Gerry seemed to place in him.

Gerry tugged on the leather band around his neck, tugging out a key from below his shirt. It was a big, old key with delicate details wrapping around it. Gerry slotted it into the keyhole and turned it before pushing the door open. He waved Martin inside.

The inside turned out to be a small room, completely dark until Gerry lit a light that illuminated more bookshelves. Still, the bookshelves weren’t really surprising and certainly not the most shocking.

“Is that a heart?!” Martin managed to bring out, blinking his eyes to make sure that he wasn’t just seeing things, but the heart remained, so he stepped a bit closer. It was around the size of a human hand and seemingly part of the library. It looked as if it grew out of the wooden walls, its veins leading into the dark wood. And Martin could see it pulsing, contracting and expanding with each beat.

“It’s the heart of the library.” supplied Gerry not so helpfully, because it only brought up more questions.

“The library has a heart? Why?” 

“The library needs a heart to exist.” Jon’s voice supplied from behind, making Martin turn around.

“It’s also my heart.”

“It’s y...how?” 

Gerry shrugged.

“Magic.”

“I made a deal. My heart for…”

“...my life.” Gerry finished the sentence.

Martin stood there silent. That was a lot to take in.

“Come on, sit down. Storytime I suppose.” Gerry said, nudging Martin to a chair, that stood close by.

Martin sat down while Gerry grabbed to more chairs so they could sit down across from him and then they told him. They told him how they had stumbled into the library, Gerry leaning onto Jon while he had bled out of a gaping wound in his side, close to losing consciousness, and about the witch that had found them. His name was Jonah, they told him, and he had offered Jon a deal. His heart and Jonah would save Gerry’s life. Easy as that and Jon had agreed, only that it wasn’t as easy as it had seemed.

Making deals with witches was...pretty standard apparently, but there were two different types those who honoured the contracts they made and those that twisted them. Technically fulfilling them, but rarely as the other part had anticipated. Jonah had been the later type.

He had taken Jon’s heart, and technically he had also saved Gerry’s life.

By turning him into a hulking beast.

“...and then I ate him because that’s what he deserved.” Gerry finished, crossing his arms in front of his chest.

“I think he hoped that you’d eat me,” Jon said, chuckling softly. “Would have meant that he had the heart he wanted but not having to deal with an archivist. I don’t think he counted on you keeping so much of...well, yourself.”

Gerry shrugged. 

“I’m nothing if not stubborn.”, he said with a grin.

Martin could only stare. The story might have answered some of his questions, but in turn, it had only given him more.

“So you’re bound to the library now?” he asked.

Jon and Gerry exchanged a glance before Jon sighed.

“Yes and No.” he answered, running his fingers through his hair.

“I could take my heart and leave, but that would mean..”

“...would mean that I die and I could leave, but that would mean leaving Jon behind, and I refuse to do that.” Gerry finished once more when Jon paused.

“Oh,” Martin said softly. That explained a few things.

“How...If Jonah turned you into a beast how does…” Martin gestured vaguely at Gerry’s clearly not beastly form.

“Jon did some things” Gerry answered.

“I...this library contains a lot of knowledge, especially on magic, and... I mean it took me a while, but I figured something out.” Jon elaborated. “It’s by no means perfect as you have seen and I haven’t found a way to undo it completely but...”

“..it’s enough, honestly.” 

Gerry shrugged, he didn’t seem too bothered by it.

“Strong emotions bring the beast out, but otherwise I can switch relatively free in between and hey, having fangs and claws can be pretty nice.” he added with a grin.

“What would happen if the library doesn’t have a heart?” Marin asked then, furrowing his brows.

“It would cease to exist,” Jon answered simply. “but it’s not like I can leave, so it doesn’t matter for now.”

“Would you want too if you could?”

Jon offered Martin a wry smile and shrugged.

“I don’t know. Maybe? I’m not sure if we would know where to go. We’ve been here for a while. It’s home now, even if we didn’t choose it at first.”

Martin didn’t miss how Jon said we instead of I and couldn’t help the small smile that tugged on his lips.

“Gerry?”

“Same for me,” Gerry answered. “Wouldn’t mind a change of scenery but I don’t have a necessary goal in mind where I want to go, and I think for now it’s more important to concentrate on getting you home anyway.”

Now it was Martin’s turn to shrug.

“I don’t know,” he said. “I like it here.”

He wasn’t even sure if anyone would miss him back home, and here he had a place where he felt like he belonged.


	7. Sometimes you have to sell your mom

As Martin learned not too long after. Jonah hadn’t been the first deal with a witch that had been made. 

“You sold your mom?” he asked shocked, staring at Gerry.

“In his defence, his mother was a horrible person and killed his father in front of his eyes.” Jon piped in.

“Okay, that’s… that’s reasonable then, I suppose?” Martin said hesitatingly, still uncertain.

“What did you sell her for?”

“My freedom,” Gerry said dryly. “And naturally black hair.”

Martin blinked.

“What.”

“Mostly I just wanted to get away from her, didn’t matter how.” Gerry shrugged. “The new hair colour was just a bonus.”

“How old were you?”

“Dunno, fourteen? Was before I met Jon, not too long before tho.”

Martin rubbed his temples. Sometimes he really did wonder where he had landed that it seemed that teens selling their parents, getting turned into a beast and selling your heart to a library was normal.

“And another point in my defence. She sold me while I made that deal to another witch.”

“What? Okay, maybe she deserved it.” Martin admitted, making Gerry chuckle.

“She definitely did.” Jon agreed.

“What happened with the deal your mom made?”

“Oh, Gertrude dropped by, made me tell her what happened and asked if I wanted to come with her anyway,” Gerry answered. “She knew my dad somehow. I just followed her around for the next few years.” 

“So not all witches are bad?” Martin questioned.

“Nah. I mean I wouldn’t call Gertie good per se, but she was...she wasn’t exactly evil either. She usually had her reasons.” Gerry answered. 

“And the witch that you made your deal with?”

Gerry snickered.

“Technically that were two. They were...something. Pretty wild but nice. Michael and Helen would visit them again if necessary, to be honest.”

“Okay. Guess I’ll keep that in mind?” Martin said. “Gertrude, Michael and Helen are okay Witches. Jonah not.”

“If you want to we can make you a list.” Jon offered.

“I think I’m good? But thank you. Don’t think there’s anything I want to make a deal for.” Martin said with a smile.


	8. Three Kisses and a Bed

Martin didn't know how he had ended up here. Okay, that was a lie. 

Gerry had muttered something about that it was time to sleep and then had pushed Martin along until they had slumped into a huge bed, Gerry pressed against his side. Jon had followed not long after, climbing into the bed and scrambling until he laid half on top of Martin, head tugged under Martin's chin. 

So Martin knew the how, what he didn't know was the why. 

“Martin?” Gerry said, and Martin hummed softly in response.

“Tell us about yourself.”

Martin chuckled quietly and then shrugged.

“I don’t think there’s much to tell. I’m not a particularly interesting person.”

“I think you’re plenty interesting.” Jon disagreed, comment muffled by Martin’s shirt.

Martin snorted.

“If you say so, but I’m really not sure what I’m supposed to tell you. I worked at a library before. It had way fewer plants though. And no heart in the middle of it. And no beasts.”

“Sounds boring.” Gerry hummed.

“Yeah. I mean, I suppose. It definitely wasn’t the most exciting job, but it was okay.”

“What about your friends and family?” Gerry asked then, placing his head on Martin’s shoulder as he snuggled closer.

Martin shrugged.

“Never had a lot of friends,” he answered. “And I never met my dad, but apparently I look a lot like him” He paused for a moment and sighed. “As for my mom…” he shrugged again. “I don’t think she ever really liked me.”

“What?”

“Why?” 

Both Jon and Gerry had pushed themselves up to look at him.

“I don’t know. I wasn’t what she wanted and being trans didn’t make it any easier, or maybe I didn’t try hard enough...” 

Martin scrunched up his nose, old feelings of being inadequate bubbling up inside of him.

“Yeah, I’m gonna stop you right there,” Gerry said before he could keep going. “because, Martin look at me.” and Martin did. Gerry looked at him with open eyes and a smile before continuing. “because you are absolutely amazing and if your mother couldn’t see that, maybe we should’ve sold her to a witch too.”

Martin blinked and snorted.

“Might be hard. She’s dead.”

“We could do it retroactively,” Jon mumbled. “because you’re kind and lovely and whoever made you feel bad about yourself, doesn’t deserve to have you in their life,” he added, placing his head back down on Martin’s chest. “You care for people, and you try your best, and maybe you’re a bit of a clutz sometimes...ow Gerry stop hitting me, I wasn’t done.” Jon complained when Gerry whacked him lightly. “as I was saying that’s okay, because so am I and that one over there too and that’s normal, because no one is perfect and it’s not the child’s responsibility to fill some expectations, so believe us when we tell you that you’re great the way you are.”

Martin could feel his eyes burning, and he blinked to stop them from watering.

“Oh.” he said softly—the only thing he could bring out without his voice cracking.

Gerry leant his forehead against the side of Martin’s head.

“As I said before, maybe you also don’t realise how lovely you are, but that’s fine because we will tell you until you believe us.” 

Gerry’s lip pressed against his skin, leaving soft kisses along his jawline before he pulled back to hover over Martin instead, cradling his face in the hand that he didn’t use to push himself up.

“Can I?” he asked softly, gaze searching as he looked into Martin’s eyes.

Martin nodded slowly and met Gerry halfway to press their lips together in a tender kiss. It was slow and careful, and Martin could feel himself melt.

“Is that a thing we’re doing now?” Jon asked, moving slightly.

They broke apart to look at him.

“I think so.” Martin answered.

“Can I have one too?” Jons dark eyes fixated him intently, and Martin blinked surprised.

“Sure.” 

As soon as the word had left his mouth, Jon’s lips were on his, tentatively and unsure, but eager to learn as they moved against Martin's.

“Wait, I never got kisses from you.”

Gerry pointed out with a small pout.

Jon pulled back to look at him with furrowed brows.

“You didn’t ask.”

“You mean, all I had to do was ask?” Gerry asked disbelievingly.

“Yes?”

“Well, damn.”

Martin chuckled amused.

“Just kiss already.” he said, nudging them both.

They both looked at Martin before they looked back at each other.

“I- Yes, uh,” Jon started softly while Gerry simply rolled his eyes and leaned forward to press his lips against Jons, nipping at them.

Martin hummed softly and let himself slump back against the pillow while his fingers rubbed circles into Jon lowers back, but he didn’t lie there alone for long before lips found there way back against his while another set pressed against his neck.

“Don’t think you can escape this, this was about you.” Gerry mumbled against his neck, nipping lightly on his neck and if it was supposed to be a punishment, then it certainly had missed its purpose. 

Martin only hummed softly in response, mouth to occupied with Jon’s to respond in any other way. His fingers buried in Jon’s hair to gently tug him closer, running his tongue along the seam of Jon’s lips until he opened his mouth to meet Martin’s tongue with his own.

“Don’t think he wants to escape.” Jon mumbled after he pulled back, lips slightly reddened.

“You sure?”

“Yeah, I’m pretty sure.” Martin chuckled. “I’m good where I am right now. No need to escape, thoroughly convinced to stay.”

“Hmmm, I think some more convincing could hurt either way.” Gerry said with a wink, making Martin laugh, but he certainly didn’t say no when Gerry leant in for another kiss. 


End file.
